


Amplifier

by aeruh



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, M/M, in which the author shows off her love for rocks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 08:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7611343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeruh/pseuds/aeruh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean compares Marco to his favorite rock. </p><p>(Or, Jean is secretly a rockhound.) </p><p>A little JeanMarco fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amplifier

Back at home in Trost, Jean had a bookcase in his room. This was not an abnormality, as there were other houses within the Walls that also had bookcases in their rooms, too. What made Jean's bookcase unique, however, was that it wasn't filled with books that didn't do much more than collect dust. 

Jean, if questioned, would admit with only slight hesitation that he was very proud of his strange bookcase. Well, not the bookcase itself necessarily. It wasn't very different than any other, but the contents the shelves held was what Jean was proud of.

The first one Jean ever put on the shelves was found when he was five. It was buried under the ground. Jean only found it because his mother insisted on a nice, short family trip to a relatively nearby river, and he got bored while sitting by the waterside. His five-year-old attention span only lasted so long, and the quickest thing he could think of next was to dig into the soil with a flat rock. 

What he dug up was white and rough, about the size of his palm. When Jean held it closer to his face, he could just barely see that it wasn't quite opaque; light shone through it, and he could see faint veins running through its center. 

"That is quartz," his mother explained when he asked. "It is very pretty, and there are legends that say it can be used for healing. Quartz amplifies the energy that surrounds it." Then she smiled and leaned down to kiss his cheek adding, "It is a very good stone. You should always keep it."

Since his appetite for stones had been whetted, he had gone on to collect many more pieces--some he found himself, after countless hours of hunting, and some he saved his money to purchase at the market. None were very valuable, considering the majority of humanity was more focused on survival than rock collecting, but Jean didn't care about the monetary worth. They were beautiful, and that was what mattered. 

Quartz became his favorite stone, even after so many years had passed; he had been amazed to discover, alone and poring over a barely-used book on what little the human race knew about geology, that there were many different types: amethyst, rose, citrine, smokey, blue...

But out of all of those, his very favorite was always clear quartz. A year before he left home for military training, he had purchased a clear quartz point no longer than his little finger, from a man at the market who lived alone and dug all his material in the woods. 

"Ah," he'd said when Jean's hand gravitated towards the crystal, "that's a keen intuition you have there, lad. Very strong, that one is. Very good amplifier." Because of Jean's apparently impressive sixth-sense, he offered the crystal at half the original price. Jean paid the full price anyway and then some when it looked like the merchant's day was mostly going to be spent without many more sales other than his own.

When he left for training, the crystal sat, nestled comfortably in the inside pocket of his tan jacket over his heart. It was something he would never tell anyone, but having the protective stone made him feel a little more secure in such a strange, difficult environment. 

He met Marco not too long after finding his bunk in the dorm. It didn't take long for them to become acquaintances, and it took less time for them to become friends. If Jean was being honest with himself, it took even less for him to realize (and admit) that he had fallen very much in love, though he swore that Marco would remain forever unaware of the fact. Just as he would never know about the crystal in his jacket. Even if Jean was almost positive Marco would never be one to give him any problems about it if he _did_ say anything.

If Jean had to relate Marco to a gemstone, his first pick would have been fire opal. It was a gemstone Jean had never had the privilege of seeing in person, but rather in books. It shone a wonderful red-orange, and seemed to burn in the light like... Well, fire. 

But Jean decided not too long after that Marco was not fire. Rather, he was the comfortable, life-giving warmth that came with it. He was not the burning itself. So fire opal did not fit.

Other options came up, but Jean shook his head at all of them. None fit Marco in quite the way he was looking for. Obsidian was too sharp, and besides, Marco didn't just absorb the negative energy Jean always seemed to have--he cleared it away. It was banished from Jean when Marco was in his presence. He was too gentle and soft to be stiff and rigid petrified wood. Red jasper was too associated with the warrior's life, and while Marco had joined the military, it just _wasn't him._

In all honesty, trying to find a stone to associate with the object of one's affections was not exactly a normal thing. If Jean caught anyone else doing it, he would have shaken his head and scoffed. But Jean _knew_ the stones, had spent most of his life around them, and both they and Marco were too important for him to keep apart. 

Besides, it wasn't like Marco would ever find out about Jean's strange pastime. 

As the three years passed and training was coming to an end, one night he and Marco had snuck out to sit on the roof of the boy's dorm and stargaze. It was a clear night, and the stars glimmered through the splash of clouded white across the sky that looked like spilled milk. Jean wondered what it was called. 

Marco sat, knees to his chest, and when Jean looked a little closer he could see him shivering. His own jacket was off in an instant. As Jean, without thinking, made a move to drape it over Marco's shoulders, his hand brushed over the point of clear quartz that was still tucked away in the inside pocket. 

Everything fell into place then in less than a second. 

It should have made sense, when Jean thought about it; of course his favorite stone would fit his favorite person. 

Marco was an amplifier. When he was around Jean, he exuded energy so bright Jean couldn't help but almost feel overwhelmed--in the good way, the same way it feels when thunder booms and Jean can feel it reverberate in his chest. In the same way that Jean felt when he realized he loved him. But Marco was an amplifier because the energy didn't just come from him; it came from around him. Marco took it all in and made it stronger. 

He was quartz. He wasn't over-the-top, attention-grabbing sapphire or garnet. He was a little plainer, and easily missed when thrown in with the rest of the 104th, just like the first piece Jean ever had in his stone collection when compared to his amethyst and his agates and his pyrite.

But Marco was pure. He was so pure he didn't need eye-catching colors or a blinding shine. Marco was the crystal point Jean kept over his heart; simple and genuine and _pure._

That was the decision Jean came to when he leaned over, almost shyly, to press his lips to Marco's cheek under the starlight. 

Contrary to what he had claimed, eventually Jean, the night before the completion of training, had dug into his jacket pocket to show Marco the crystal point. He explained what properties it had, why he liked it so much. And, blushing furiously, was able to stutter his way through his comparison quietly as to not wake the others. When spoken aloud, he realized how foolish he sounded and hoped Marco couldn't see his face burning in the darkness. 

Rather than moving away from him and calling him a stone-obsessed freak, Marco curled up tighter to Jean's side and whispered, "Well, if I'm quartz, what kind of energy do I amplify? What are _you,_ Jean?"

Jean thought for a while, and then he shook his head. "I don't know," he answered at last. 

"Hm." Marco moved, a bit hesitantly, to nestle his head in the crook of Jean's neck. "I'll have to think about it for you, then."

But Marco never did come to a conclusion, and Jean learned very quickly why he was so adamant against him being fire opal in the beginning. He must have really had a strong intuition, like that man at the market had said so long ago. 

What hurt most was that Jean wasn't with Marco when he died; he was alone, and probably afraid, and _Jean wasn't there._

It tore a hole in Jean's chest to see him, slumped over against the wall with half of his face gone. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. _It wasn't supposed to happen._ Marco deserved better. What was Jean going to do now? 

When they burned the bodies, Marco was added to the rest of them. It was as if he didn't matter; he was just another common person, like everyone else. Jean cradled the quartz crystal in his hand while he watched the pyre burn, and it was that night as he waited for Marco to turn to ashes that he realized why fire opal never quite fit him. 

He laughed, teary-eyed and emotionless, and wondered if it was possible for him to already be losing his mind. 

Jean cried that night as he lay curled up under a blanket, the crystal point clenched in his hand. It bit into his palm, and he gripped it hard enough to draw blood. He didn't make any sound, but he was shaking so hard that it was more than obvious to anyone who saw. He didn't care. 

Marco was Jean's quartz--he brought out the best in him, made him feel like he could do anything. He made his light brighter. Jean simply didn't know what to do if he wasn't there. He hated himself in that moment for allowing someone to work their way into his heart so easily. 

A day or two after Jean and the rest of the 104th who chose to join the Survey Corps were reunited with the stupid Jaeger kid, Jean stayed up late to wander among the trees that surrounded headquarters. The sun was beginning to sink, and out of habit Jean's eyes were stuck on the ground, looking for stones without him really noticing it. 

That was when he found it; partially covered with dirt and leaves, but the sun was still up just enough for it to catch the light and shine a dark red, and reminded Jean rather uncomfortably of blood. 

Nevertheless, he bent down to pick it up anyway. In his hand, the rough red jasper looked almost like any other rock. But Jean knew better. He ran his thumb over its nicks and curves, and turned it in his hand to see the single, delicate vein of black that ran through the center. 

Jean remembered when he found out what it was used for in one of those old, forgotten books he found only after hours of searching the library: _endurance, protection, and justice._ The memory of the brief time when he considered comparing Marco to the stone crossed his mind, and he forced it away just as quickly. Red jasper was a warrior's talisman; Marco had never been a warrior. 

But could Jean?

Reaching into his pocket, Jean pulled out the quartz point and lifted it up in the dying light. He held the two in both hands.

Could Jean be a warrior? They were brave, they were strong, they were willing to give up all they had for a cause. They were protectors. That was something Jean couldn't be before; he had let Marco die. People can change, though. Jean knew that. It was one of the things that made humanity great. And Jean owed it to Marco. He owed a lot to him, more than even Jean fully understood.

And besides, quartz was an amplifier--if he carried it with the jasper, it would only make the red stone stronger. 

Using the back of one hand, Jean reached up to wipe away a tear that had managed to leak from the corner of his eye. With a small smile, he slipped both rocks into his pocket, and the weight rested over his heart like an anchor. 

Jean would be a warrior--for Marco. He would do what he could to keep others from dying. He had joined the Survey Corps, after all, and was going to do his best to save humanity. 

The young soldier pressed his hand over the two stones in his jacket. And Jean wouldn't ever really be alone, Marco would be there with him, too. To make him stronger.

**Author's Note:**

> This is another thing I came up with at work.
> 
> I have an addiction to stones and crystals. This was partially my way to work them into a story without it being too dumb.
> 
> Quartz is my favorite, but I also like red jasper. And I ship JeanMarco hard.


End file.
